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Peach Sweetmeats

Peach sweetmeats are preserved peaches in sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Peach Sweetmeats

Why it works: Peach and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 466 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Peach Sweetmeats

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peaches

  1. Weigh the peaches.

  2. Peel and cut the peaches.

  3. Place the peaches in a kettle and let them sit until the juice starts to run.

Make the syrup

  1. Add the sugar to the kettle and stir until it dissolves.

  2. Bring the kettle to a boil and cook until the peaches are tender but not falling apart.

  3. Remove the peaches and drain them.

  4. Boil the syrup for 20 minutes, ensuring it does not scorch.

  5. Skim the syrup.

Fill and store

  1. Fill jars with the peaches.

  2. Fill the jars with the syrup.

  3. Cool the jars.

  4. Cover the jars.

  5. Wash the outside of the jars.

  6. Store the jars.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Peach + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Sugar + peachtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, dissolved into syrup, helps preserve it.
Peaches
Provide the fruit flavor and texture of the sweetmeats.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup without scorching. Sugar syrup can darken and taste burnt if it sticks to the bottom of the pan and overheats. Stirring and keeping the heat controlled helps the syrup stay clear and sweet.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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